The Appraisal Institute has developed a Residential Green and Energy Efficient Addendum. The Appraisal Institute Green Addendum is the first residential energy efficiency appraisal report addendum developed by appraisers, for use by appraisers when appropriate. This report evaluates items of high performance housing for consideration by appraisers.

Real estate investor Kassi Pelley had bought and sold a number of “fix-and-flip” homes in metro Denver when she fell down the rabbit hole of green building and certifications. She’s gotten a price bump – the “green premium” – on every home she’s upgraded and certified since, and she hasn’t…

Rick and Joann Sandoval live in a green Ferrari – a souped-up, high-performance home loaded with energy-sipping systems and green-home features. But when it came time to refinance their house and capture value from those items, the Sandovals were going nowhere…

Often, when homeowners make improvements to an existing house, the most important aspects of home performance – including safety, comfort, energy efficiency, durability, and environmental impact – are literally invisible during key steps of any home sale or refinance transaction.

Back in the ‘80s, the Center for Neighborhood Technology and others helped the City of Chicago pass a residential utility disclosure ordinance that required the disclosure of heating bills when residential properties are sold or leased in the city. Why? Heating expenses constitute a significant home expense, and it’s important for consumers and Realtors to have access to this information.

Until now, complying with the ordinance could take up to two weeks: a Realtor submitted an…

If you decide to construct your home or are planning to remodel an existing home, you have many options. A big choice to make is whether or not to insulate with old or new concepts. A huge chunk of homeowners use fiberglass insulation and do quite well with it. If you are looking for more efficiency, than read on, because there is a better way. foam insulation is a modern marvel and holds many benefits including efficiency, easy to install and lower lifetime cost. Let me dive in and get more…

Sean Smith was the man in the middle. – a key figure with a foot in both worlds of business and “green.”

A high-end general contractor, he built two LEED-certified homes in the Washington Park neighborhood of Denver in 2009. At an educational session he hosted there, the U.S. Green Building Council approached him to serve on a committee. “If you’re doing big-picture things, I’m all over it,” he told them.

There's one thing that keeps me from my favorite fast-food indulgence, the Junior Whopper with Cheese. It's called the Happy Meal. My kids insist on them. And our meals are indeed happier if I forgo my trip to Burger King so we can snag Happy Meals at McDonald's instead.

How does this relate to Home Performance?

A big focus among home performance professionals at the moment is driving demand. To do that…

For More…

A lot of good economic reasons exist to pursue energy efficiency. Still the average person tends not to. This is no surprise. If I cannot see, touch, buy, sell, trade or save efficiency, if it’s invisible, how can I pay it any real attention?